Celia's Puppies (35 page)

Sergeant Peaches stood and walked toward the
nurse’s station. While she was gone, Tiffanie came over to hug MJ.
Sam stood next to MJ in silent support. When Sergeant Peaches
returned, everyone in the waiting room had heard the news. The
small woman moved through the crowd of stunned people to MJ.

“
Get up. We’ve got thirty
minutes until we can visit Honey,” Sergeant Peaches held up her
wristwatch. The stopwatch was counting down thirty minutes. “We’re
going running.”

Lost inside his head, MJ nodded at his
teammate. Sergeant Peaches helped him to his feet then led him
through the hospital. Together, they began jogging.

“
I don’t have my running
leg on,” MJ said.

“
Welcome back, Sergeant
Scully,” his friend and team partner Margaret said. “You’ve run
plenty on that leg. Let’s go another ten minutes before we head
back.”

“
Why are we
running?”

“
Honey needs you to be
present,” Margaret said. “You were completely checked out. I know
you haven’t slept, and this is awful news, but...”

“
WHY DIDN’T SHE TELL
ME!?!” Flooded with rage, MJ screamed at the top of his lungs.
“FUCK!”

Saying
nothing, Margaret kept running by his side. A Navajo, Margaret
never understood her mercurial partner. For a
beligaana
,
he was only a little crazy, which she thought was pretty good. In
this moment, she knew she had to keep him running. They ran another
ten minutes then turned back toward the hospital.

“
What am I going to do?”
MJ said when the hospital came into view.

“
You’re going to go in
there and give her every chance. You must stay present,” Margaret
said. “What do you need to do?”

“
Take breaks every couple
hours to eat, run, and drink water,” MJ said.

“
That’s great because a
lot of people want to see her,” Margaret said. “What
else?”

“
Make sure someone
supportive to me is with me at all times,” MJ said. “The LC set up
a schedule. You’ll be here for another hour then Raz
comes.”

“
The team is scheduled
around the clock all week,” Margaret said. “Your sister?
Brother?”

“
They will want to be with
me too,” MJ said. “Maybe I’ll ask them to help with food and
stuff.”

“
Good plan,” Margaret
said. “Anything else?”

“
Pray,” MJ said. “Ask
everyone to pray. Can you have one of those healing things
done?”

“
I can ask,”
Margaret said in a tone that made him laugh. “Yeah, can you do
this
beligaana a traditional
four day sing?”

MJ laughed. Nearing the hospital entrance,
he slowed to a walk.

“
Thanks,” MJ
said.

“
Let’s do this thing,”
Margaret said. “When Honey’s better? We should get that
tattooed.”

“
What?”

“
Even the smallest chance
is still a chance,” Margaret said.

MJ nodded. Walking into the hospital, he
felt ready to deal with whatever happened today. Refusing to look
at the sorrow-filled waiting room, he went up to the counter to ask
for Honey. The nurses escorted him and Sergeant Peaches back to
where Honey waited for him.

~~~~~~~~

Monday evening — 6:30 P.M.

“
How did it go?” Sandy
asked Aden as he walked into her condo. As she had every Monday all
summer, she had picked up Noel and Nash from school then spent the
afternoon helping with homework and making dinner.

Aden fell onto the living room floor.
Laughing, Nash and Noelle fell on him to squish and hug him.

“
I can’t remember why I
wanted to run Lipson Construction,” Aden said.

Sandy laughed.

“
Well, Mr. President, we
have roasted chicken for dinner.”

“
And a PIE for our special
GUY!” Noelle said somewhere between a screech and a
scream.

“
We made it together,”
Nash said.

Sitting up, Aden put on arm around each
child. He kissed each of their cheeks and laughed.

“
What?” Sandy
asked.

“
I’m happy,” Aden
said.

He held out his hands for Sandy to pull him
up. When she took his hands, he pulled her down to the floor. While
Sandy laughed, Noel and Nash piled on top of her. Aden kissed
Sandy’s forehead.

“
Wow, that chicken smells
great,” he said. “I’m starving and I can’t get up.”

The kids and Sandy helped an over dramatic
Aden to his feet. He hugged all of them together.

“
Go get washed for
dinner,” Aden said.

Sandy lifted her arms around his neck when
he pulled her toward him.

“
God, you smell great,” he
said.

“
Congratulations on your
first day as boss,” she said.

“
I never could have done
all of this without you, Sandy,” Aden said. “Thank you.”

They kissed.

“
Ok, ew,” Nash said coming
from the bathroom. “I think I’m going to throw up.”

Laughing, Aden went to wash up. The little
family settled around Sandy’s dining room table.

“
Do you have to work
tonight?” Sandy asked.

Aden nodded.

“
We still have homework,
Daddy,” Noelle said. “We’ll keep you company.”

Aden’s face broke into a smile.

“
What?” Sandy
asked.

“
Just a man who has
everything he ever wanted,” Aden said.

“
Sandy? Can you take us to
school tomorrow?” Nash asked.

“
Why?” Aden
asked.

“
Sandy’s a MILF,” Nash
said. “All the guys said so when she picked me up.”

Sandy blushed.

“
What’s that?” Noelle
asked.

“
I had to Google it too.
It means…”

“
Nash!” Aden
interrupted.

“
Dad, I’m twelve years
old. I’m supposed to be obsessed with computers, video games
and...”

“
Nash,” Aden said. “Sandy,
you don’t have to...”

“
Pleeeeeeeeezzzzzzeee,”
Nash asked.

Laughing, Sandy said, “Sure.”

~~~~~~~~

Monday night — 11:30 P.M.

“
Hey,” Jill
said.

She’d woken when he got up. Thinking he was
using the bathroom, she fell back asleep. An hour later, she
realized he hadn’t come back to bed. Taking Katy’s baby monitor
with her, she wandered through their home, then through most of the
Castle, until she found him in the rooms they hoped Honey would
live in.

“
Sorry.” He came over to
give her a kiss. “I didn’t mean to wake you. I was feeling restless
and figured I needed to...”

“
Sort out a mess,” they
said together.

“
It feels really good that
you know that about me,” he said.

“
Why are you here? I
thought they were pretty sure Honey wouldn’t survive the night,”
Jill said.

“
They are.” He scratched
his head. “I can’t make up my mind whether we should put the
smaller room here or put the master bedroom here. What would you
do?”

“
Jacob, Honey is
dying.”

Jacob wrapped her in his arms.

“
Even the slightest chance
is still a chance,” he said.

Chapter Forty-Eight
…is still a chance.

Tuesday morning — Midnight

MJ woke with a start when someone touched
his shoulder. He had been sitting in a chair beside Honey’s bed.
Raising his head, he saw a man move along the opposite side of her
bed. Because Honey’s wasn’t supposed to survive the night, Sam had
forced the crowd of friends and family, even Honey’s mother, to
give MJ this time alone with her. Bleary eyed from sorrow and lack
of sleep, MJ squinted to make out the man’s face.

“
Jake?”

“
Blane.”

“
Sorry, you guys look a
lot a like,” MJ said.

“
We do. Especially in the
middle of the night to a heart broken person,” Blane said. He
picked up Honey’s wrist. “I’m sorry I startled you.”

“
What are you doing?” MJ
asked.

“
Taking her pulses,” Blane
said. “Honey is my patient. I’ve been treating her with acupuncture
since she arrived at Craig Hospital. They were awesome at Craig,
very open to having me help, but they aren’t as excited about
acupuncture here in the Swedish ICU. My roommate is distracting the
nurse.”

“
You were treating Honey?”
MJ asked.

“
I helped her get some
mobility back in her fingers. We worked on this infection and all
of her inflammation. I think the acupuncture helped strengthen her,
but...” Blane said. “Pardon me.”

He moved in front of MJ to take a pulse from
the hand MJ had been holding. MJ leaned back into his chair.

“
I had some acupuncture
when I was recovering,” MJ said.

“
Honey told me,” Blane
said. “I’d be happy to work with you, if you’d like. I see other
people on your team.”

MJ nodded. His teammates talked about seeing
an acupuncturist. Particularly the LC and a few of the guys who’d
been hostages. It never occurred to him that he could get
acupuncture too.

“
How is she?”

“
What do the doctors
say?”

“
She won’t make the
night.” MJ coughed to cover his out of control emotions. “She’s
dying.”

Blane nodded.

“
She’s very weak,” Blane
said. “I’ll do what I can. Why aren’t you in bed with
her?”

“
In bed with her?” MJ
asked.

“
She’s tiny. She barely
fills up a quarter of the bed,” Blane said. “She needs
love.”

“
Love?” MJ
parroted.

“
Love is the most powerful
force on this planet,” Blane said. “She needs your love. It just
might make a difference.”

Not sure how to respond, MJ nodded.

“
How about this? I’ll
treat you and Honey while I’m here. I can help you get in bed with
her before I go.”

“
Help Honey,” MJ said. “I
can wait.”

“
Honey needs your
strength,” Blane said. “Let’s make sure she has it.”

MJ nodded.

Humming, Blane put acupuncture needles into
Honey. He took MJ’s pulses, then placed a few needles into him.

“
You’re exhausted,” Blane
said to MJ.

“
I didn’t sleep much
Saturday. Nerves. We didn’t sleep last night. Wedding night.” MJ
shrugged. “Then all of this. I… I don’t want to lose
her.”

“
I never tolerate a
doctor’s hex,” Blane said.

“
Baring a miracle,” MJ
said. “That’s what they said.”

Blane pulled the needles from Honey, then
MJ. He helped MJ out of his prosthesis, then into the bed next to
Honey.

“
Put your hand over her
heart,” Blane said.

MJ curled on his side around Honey’s form.
He put his left hand over her heart.

“
I gave you a calming
treatment so you should be very mellow,” Blane said. “Some people
see things after this treatment, especially if they’ve seen death
before.”

“
Things?”

“
Spirits, stuff like
that.”

“
Good to know,” MJ said.
“What do I do now?”

“
Love her,” Blane said.
“Just love her.”

“
I always
have.”

~~~~~~~~

Midnight

“
It’s time,” Delphie
said.

Having just finishing a bowl of Captain
Crunch at the Castle’s main kitchen table, Jacob’s head jerked from
Jill to Delphie. . His face flushed. The psychic stood at the door
of the room.

“
What happened?” Jill
asked.

“
Honey is transitioning,
Jill,” Delphie said. “We’re going to assist her if we
can.”

“
What does that mean?”
Jill asked.

“
When someone is near
death, their essence moves into a transitional space,” Delphie
said. “By focusing on that person or that soul, we can help to ease
the transition.”

“
But you said she had a
chance!”

Jill’s voice was full of indignation but her
eyes filled with sorrow. As a way of channeling her sadness, she
picked up their empty cereal bowls.

“
When a person is in
transition, Jill, they haven’t left yet,” Jacob said. He took the
bowls from her and set them in the kitchen sink. “By focusing on
the person, we can also give them the strength they need to stay or
to leave in peace. Delphie and Val did this for me when I was… in
between.”

“
If Val can help, then I
can help.” Her sadness turning to defiance, Jill’s jaw set firm.
“Val’s not a psychic or whatever.”

“
Val’s trained,” Delphie
said.

“
I can do this.” Jill
hands went to her hips. “Katy may get some psychic whatever from
Jacob, but everything else comes from me.”

“
I’m not prepared for an
amateur,” Delphie said.

“
Get prepared.”